Gold Iris
Gold Iris (known as Goldene Iris in German) is a German scientific research foundation heavily involved in controversial projects, largely spearheading the infamous Flüchtiger Drache project. Most of the original members were brutally executed by Allied forces without trial after the Allied occupation of Germany at the end of the Second World War. Founding of Gold Iris The original group was founded on 30 September 1938 by Dr Ludwig Freitag with his associate, Dr Oldřich Kratochvil. Several days later, on 5 October 1938, a division of the foundation, Flüchtiger Drache, was created as well. Construction of the notorious and elusive Verblassendes Licht Forschungseinrichtung (Fading Light Research Facility) began somewhere in the Hessian Odenwald mountain range two days later. Der Wachtturm der Schwarzen Wissenschaften (The Watchtower of Black Sciences), nicknamed "Der Tauber" (The Tower) soon began its construction in the Thuringian sector of the Harz mountains. It should be noted that several of the later key and most infamous foundation members and personnel were brought into Gold Iris only a short period of time after its initial founding: * 12 October 1938: Dr Friedrich Austerlitz was signed onto Flüchtiger Drache for the Gebrochener Pfeil project to assist in the development of Zerschmetterter Bogen. * 15 October 1938: Dr Ingolf Baar is signed onto Flüchtiger Drache, while Dr Markus Gröester is brought into Gold Iris. * 19 October 1938: Lieutenant Karl Schickedanz is hired and permanently assigned to Dr Baar. * 19 November 1938: SS Captain Karl Steiner is made chief of security at Verblassendes Licht after Dr Freitag accepts Adolf Hitler's offer to integrate his few science groups into Gold Iris, as well as provide funding in exchange for chemical and biological weapons, conventional weapons or other research to help Nazi Germany win the war. Goals of the foundation Initially, Dr Freitag and Dr Kratochvil founded Gold Iris to research more obscure sciences that could potentially benefit humanity. However, as the 1930s and later Second World War dragged on, with the impending fear that Hitler would eradicate their group, they began to focus more on pleasing the Nazi Party. Eventually, after Hitler became uncharacteristically impressed with the work Gold Iris had already done, the entire foundation was turned into a research group for chemical and biological weaponry, as well as attempting to create conventional weapons that seemed completely impossible. With the discovery of Baarnium, Unbinilium and "Nachthimmel" (113, 120 and 161 respectively) in the 1940s, the goals of the group became heavily focused on attempting to weaponise the former two radioactive elements until the accidental creation of isotope Nachthimmel-322. The Schwarzwaldflüssigkeit was also included in the weaponisation process. Major discoveries The group made several massive discoveries from its founding 1938 until its eventual collapse. Die Schwarzwaldflüssigkeit (Black Forest liquid) The very first major and the most unexplainable discovery, the Schwarzwaldflüssigkeit is a liquid discovered in the Black Forest in southwestern Germany. The liquid has a completely unknown full chemical composition. It contains water and hydrogen cyanide, but the rest remains unidentified; it is hypothesised that it may contain traces or rare stable isotopes of Element 113, although that still only covers a fifth of the liquid's composition. The liquid is extremely toxic, especially in gas form. It was heavily used in the development of toxins by Gold Iris; it is most of the makeup of the T-17 isotope. Zerschmetterter Bogen (Fractured Bow) Nicknamed ZmB, Zerschmetterter Bogen is a weapon that fires poisonous barbs. Although its use was limited to only a few hundred cases, its effects are well documented. When a barb pierces through the human body, it immediately begins to decay the point(s) of entry and, if possible, exit. The poison then spreads through the bloodstream, occasionally eating away parts of veins and arteries until it reaches either the brain or heart. Death occurs within two and six minutes in most cases. However, the smaller a target is, the quicker the poison will spread. Element 120 (Unbinilium) Dr Kratochvil's team discovered Element 120 in October 1942 at an undisclosed location, most likely near or in Czechoslovakia. The element is highly radioactive, as predicted by Kratochvil's team. However, the element also possesses strange effects when introduced inside the human body, especially through ingestion or contact with open wounds; the effects of E-120 were collectively nicknamed the "Altes Reich" Syndrome, playing on the first name of Kratochvil. After roughly twelve hours, the human mind begins to deteriorate and show signs of insanity. After fourteen hours, symptoms mirroring those of schizophrenia begin to show aggressively. Eighteen hours later, speech becomes broken. Twenty hours after being inside the human body, complete loss of mental control is prominent as the inflicted stumbles or wanders around aimlessly. A full day after becoming affected by E-120, absolute loss of motor function except breathing becomes apparent. After 36 hours the heart begins to slow down and after roughly 48 hours, the heart function completely ceases as the inflicted finally dies. Element 113 (Baarnium) In August of 1943, Dr Ingolf Baar and his assistant Karl Schickedanz discovered a massive deposit of Element 113 near the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. Dr Baar made several notes to avoid it until they could confirm its radioactivity, however that didn't stop him from allowing prisoners of the nearby Auschwitz to gather it. The element is unique in that it is highly radioactive, yet doesn't show so in any capacity other than its effects on living beings; due to this, Dr Baar became ill and eventually died from extreme constant exposure to E-113. Outside of undetectable radioactivity, E-113 has no other characteristics when not combined with E-120. Element 161 ("Night Sky") Nachthimmel was created accidentally while testing Unbinilium and Baarnium together. The combined properties of the two create an unknown amount of effects. Most believe the element isn't an element at all, rather a religious sign of the apocalypse. E-161 has a pure black appearance, so dark that it almost completely absorbs light. Despite this, it appears to have a faint white glow. The only stable and apparently non-radioactive isotope of E-161 is Nachthimmel-322. Allied executions (unaltered timeline) At the end of the Second World War in 1948, the Allies caught wind of Gold Iris' actions throughout Europe. Although most Gold Iris facilities had been destroyed by the Allies in the 1947 Siege of Nazi Germany or dismantled by the Nazis and Gold Iris staff, the few remaining facilities were invaded by joint Soviet, British and American troops. All captured Gold Iris personnel were brutally executed without being given any form of trial whatsoever. Methods of Allied executions consisted of, in order of commonality: * Firing squad * Blunt force (typically with rifles or, in the case of various Soviet incidents, canteens) * Chemical executions (i.e. gas chambers) * Debris (by forcing personnel into rooms and demolishing facilities with explosives) * Explosive firing squads Corpses were often left mutilated, especially in the case of Soviets. Mass graves were somewhat common in the Allied executions, with Allied forces dumping bodies and setting them aflame.